robert handa, your hostor hello, and welcome to "asian pacific america" i'm robert handa your host for your show. we start with looking at the importance of the relationship between silicone valley and focusing on the conference in santa clara and see more leadership for women, especially japanese american women. youth will be served with a discussion on millennials and the challenges and opportunities they face in the 21st century. then a performance from an award winning dance troop. well, in this day in age

it's important for them to have harelationship with silicon valley. i'm honored to have two renowned guests who can talk about that relationship and an important conference coming up in santa clara. joining me right now is irene, the president of the u.s. japan council who also administers a publ public private partnership to help young japanese and americans and also the president and founding ceo of the japanese american museum in los angeles. we also welcome the co-chair of the silicon valley plat dep form a new initiative of japan council and professor americas at stanford and co-founded the research center at stanford and in 2014 president obama appointed him to the national endowment for the humanities. welcome to the show. >> thank you, robert. >> by the time we got through your credits, the show is almost over. give us an overview quickly of the council.

>> thank you. great to be here. a leadership organization that was founded in late 2008. a number of japanese american leaders felt it was important to have an organization that would focus on building a strong peop people-to-people relationship between our two countries. for many years a lot of japanese americans didn't have a connection to japan. world war ii played a key role in that. the timing was important. it was a time when many people thought that it was more about japan's passing and many of us felt that was not the case. the organization brings together leaders and do an annual conference every year and great to be in santa clara this year. >> give us an overview of your organization, if you will. >> silicon valley platform svp is organized to deeper and br d broaden the synergistic between silicon valley and japan.

japan is the third largest economy in the world and the united states is the largest. in the u.s. in the silicon valley area in particular are three titans of i.t. apple, google and facebook. and thanks to that dominance, america's economy has been robust and dynamic. in japan, japan has traditionally had an excellence in manufacturing and hardware and you see that in the automobile sector, for example, with toyota and nissan. so, we're trying to connect the sort of software excellence of silicon valley and the hardware excellence of japan because we're in an age now where technology is booming. an era of inoovation and disruption and now with artphyllous intelligence and big data analytics and machine

learning, automobiles are going to be self-driving. automobiles, in fact, will be almost like robots. and robots in the home for, say, senior living, will be important. it's critical, at this point, to deepen the ties of silicon valley and japan. >> what have you found to be most effective in the conferences? >> well, it brings together people across all sectors. so, your viewers who are watching last year's conference from tokyo japan and, so, throughout the business sector, the government sector and the nonprofit sector it brings together leaders and an opportunity to share ideas, to talk about ways to work together. then this year, of course, will focus a lot on what's going on in silicon valley and also issues that explore the empowerment of women in japan and look at the next generation

of leadership which the u.s. council is very much involved in and we think that is critical for the future of the relationship. >> does the community need this sort of jump start or this, you know, way to connect? >> i think it is important because i was saying many, many of the japanese american leaders have not had a relationship to japan and, yet, they're really very successful. so, this is a way to connect them with others from japan and throughout the united states and also helps to showcase. we have great talents from within our various communities across the country and a way to showcase that talent. >> quickly, do we need to light a fire under the community? do you feel that way? >> yes, i think so. there are a large number of japanese american professionals who have lived and worked most of their lives here. but they haven't really been conducted with japan in any systematic way. apple, for example, there are a lot of japanese americans who

have had executive positions at apple. and apple sells $15 billion, $16 billion worth of iphones in the japanese market. they own maybe 45 to 50% of the japanese smartphone market. and at the same time, they employ thousands of japanese workers who have come to silicon valley or subsidiaries to service apple. and in total about $35 billion apple contributes to the japanese economy and to japanese companies. so, there is a very strong interconnectedness that can be broaned an deepened. >> well, hopefully this will happen at your event. thank you very much for being here. well, the 2016 japan council annual conference will be held on november 14 and 15 at the hyatt regency at santa clara. for registration and more information, go to our website

nbcbayarea.com. advancing japanese women in leadership in silicon valley. that's next. these days in women inleadershi

runnfo we are seeing a lot of discussion these days about women in leadership roles, including one running for president now, but how about for japanese women in silicon valley. to talk about that we have a manager for women's diversity programs at facebook and the role of men in advancing gender equality. and also with us a managing partner with global vision partners and has been an international business consultant for nearly 0 years. both of you, welcome to the show. >> thank you for having us. >> a lot of people who don't address this issue very often. the need for women, leadership in silicon valley. >> so, definitely not unique to the silicon valley but pronounced in the world of technology and the world of venture capital, startps. but i think especially for

japanese american women, it has to start with the concept of bias. we face cultural biases and both at the workplace and in the home and i think a really good example of that type of bias for japanese women. it is positively correlated for men but negatively for women. as women we're trying to be successful and liked and that's what gets us taleadership and it's hard to be both. for japanese american women it's even harder because we're also being held up against japanese cultural values. those around humility and valuing team work over individual recognition. right, so as a japanese american woman i'm struggling around making successful outcomes in the workplace, trying to be liked and staying humble. triple threat, right? it makes it very hard and i think bias is absolutely number one. the second thing is just

networks. having those people to people connections and women leaders who are japanese american who i can relate to and that is where it comes in and offers that network for women like myself and the entire community. >> what do you think silicon valley is missing out on by not doing this? >> it is much better than japan. having grown up in japan, value there is to be modest and be quiet and get things done. and that cultural value still very important, but at the same time, when we come here, we face different values and we have to be assertive. we have to be strong and we have to speak up. so, we sort of face this necessity for code switching to be american, to be japanese or the combination of both. >> also, too, kind of creates an expectation of your behavior, so, if you don't act that way, somehow it's a negative when they probably wouldn't have that

are we making any progress as much progress being made in that area? >> it is. you know, diversity inclusion is a really slow process, unfortuna unfortunately. i think we need to recognize the progress that we're making. we're doing hundreds and hundreds of years of bias and discrimination. and it's really easy for diversity to be kind of poopooed, especially in the media. but i think the fact that we are trying for more is always a good sign and this work takes a really long time. i think there's a lot of, especially when we look at the community, amazing women in leadership positions and i think that's what is really important to keep the eye on. >> not easy for women generally in silicon valley as it is. and you also have to worry about young people being discouraged. >> but a great role model for younger people in japan, as well as here. when i came here more than 30 years ago from japan, we didn't see young people like mana

working on this issue. so, this is great. >> all right. so, what do you want to see happen next? what is something where you can get kind of a feel for tangible progress? what would you like to see happen? >> i think we need to be brave and we need to break that code and we need to be able to say, this is me. and i'm very confident and i can do it. and it comes from inside. the bias comes from outside, as well as inside. so, we have to break the barrier on our own. >> is there a way for women, japanese american women, especially, to create the scenario so they can show that? i'm always afraid bias is what's not said and what is not said out loud is when you can confront it. a way to bring it to the forefront and make it more of an issue? >> absolutely. all about being brave and putting it it out there. i think we're always afraid of saying the wrong thing or, you

know, being politically correct around these issues. i think it's absolutely necessary that we force people to be uncomfortable. so if we can create the space to have honest and safe productive conversations around this really tackle it head on. we can't waste time kind of around the cities and hearing what, telling you what i think you want to hear. and i think the conference does a really good job of that creating safe spaces to have productive discussions. >> something that is confronted then? >> exactly. not only the annual conference, but day-to-day we sometimes get together as women's leadership group and we talk about these issues and we make it more formal and we make it more frequent. so that issues are always out there and so that we are more comfortable to talk about it. >> all right. let's hope for some progress in those areas. thank you for the work you're doing. >> thank you for having us. next, the challenges and opportunities for japanese millennials. that's coming up, so stay with

us. about every day in many way.ele

if we're not just reminded every day in many ways, in fact, i'm told millennials make up a larger section of our population over baby boomers and for the first time they're having a session just for millennials. with us is jenna zimmerman, founder and producer for the rako lab an international production company based here in the bay area. co-moderating building bridges not barriers. a business owner and also a board member for senior center in san francisco japan town. welcome. >> thank you. >> you only have to speak for all millenniamillennials. what do you want to%-'sf)ráháqán to everybody? >> it is open to everybody. thank you for asking. that's something that we really want to put out there because

while we design this with millennials in mind, i really believe that the material we'll be covering is relevant to everybody and that the more demographics and the more age ranges that we can bring in. and we hope that nonjapanese amerans come through and can influence and bring more dynamic component to this. >> what are some of the topics that you want to hit? >> our title is building bridges, not barriers. you brought up the election earlier and walls have been discussed in this election and that's something that a lot of us are really scared about and that we don't because, you know, san francisco, in particular, is a melting pot and taking place in silicon valley and we have a lot of japanese americans and a lot of people from japan and they're with japan and america have been this us and them relationship and we're really trying to blend and partner together. so, i think at this time, in

particular, building bridges between cultures is very important for our community as japanese americans and beyond. >> kyle, how did you get involved in this and what is your thoughts on getting millennials more involved or trying to get them more interested? >> for the u.s./japan council i got involved in my work with senior living and, basically, you know, helping seniors and japan town. i discovered usjc as kind of more of a professional organization for me to develop myself in. and, so, i got involved with usjc also because i'm a second generation and third generation japanese american. so, my mom was born in japan and my dad was born on maui. unfortunately, they're no longer with us, but it's one way for me to connect to my mom's side, the

japanese japan side. and i feel like i owe it to her to reconnect to those roots. on my dad's side, the japanese american side wanted to make sure that we preserve the heritage that it's so proud. and we built our lives on. so, just want to make sure that the millennials have a chance to connect with other ambitious and people who are interested in building communities. >> there isn't probably much more valuable things to happen than networking, huh? >> oh, very powerful. >> does it happen amongst the melenials and the japanese american millennials? >> i think it's much stronger with our parents' generation where we were sort of born into, you know, nonjapanese community. so, it was our upbringing and our natural and our norm to just

not have to seek out japanese americans. now we're all kind of looking around and trying to reconnect to that root. you know, that culture for self-identity to sort of say, hey, what is all this tradition about. >> i think people always understand that youth have to be a part of whatever's going on. do you feel, as though, japanese american youth feel like they're a part of silicon valley and they still feel like they need to get that encouragement. >> i think it needs a lot of focus on diversity. but, you know, i think we are making headway. i would like to see more japanese americans and more african-americans and i would like to see more latino americans and i think we are making headway. >> is it tougher for multi-ethnic youth to get involved or do they kind of feel like they have a connection, too? >> i think there are a lot of

people who like japan. they love the culture and they love traveling there. so, we're inclusive. and we want to be friends with them because that's what we need. we need a connectedness. >> hopefully your session will help do that. thank you, both, for being here. >> thank you. >> all right. well, coming up our artistic and cultural segment with the return from one of our favorite groups. stay with us.

we are proud here at and here to give osprey view of their upcoming showcase at the palace of fine arts theater. with me the director of the group. what is the group's mission, basically? >> the mission is to perpetuate the hawaiian culture through the art of hula. >> what are we going to see? >> tonight you'll see one of the dances and this particular chant was written in the turn of the 19th century for testing the

overthrow of the hawaiian government. >> thank you very much. enjoy the performance. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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ja ♪ ♪ >> thank you very much. now the natives are restless runs from october 15 to the 23rd at the palace of fine arts theatre in san francisco. only four shows to catch. visit our website for a complete schedule and now they are going to do another dance for us. ♪

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this is locker room talk. >> to stand up and say enough is enough. ♪ like a rolling stone ♪ >> good morning and welcome to sunday today. i'm willy dpoois. three weeks and change until election day and trailing in post polls, donald trump is stepping up his charge that the election is rigged, this as a number of women accusing trump of sexual misconduct raises t